Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1887-08-08
The Lost Manuscript.

an unusual expression of annoyance
and disgust; and when his eve glass
es dropped from his nose. as they
had way of doing. he replaced them
with kind Of vicious energy. His
desk was in s state Of chaos 10 which
he had reduced II in a half hours search
of increasing yig0r: usually it was :
model Of neatneSS and order. every
pigeon hole was distinctly marked and
dedicated 10 s specific purpose. and
every paper lodged in any one of
these carefully Disseminated aper-
lures was numbered, dated and deft-
/ IL folded 1t was part Of John
Parker's character 10 be orderly, and
it was also the necessity of his Oeeu-
patton As the managing editor Of q
popular magazine. which furnished =
large number OF readers with month
" instaIlment of the best current lit
erature, he found himself in the vor-
tex of whirlpool of correspondence
and manuscript that came in every
morning with the buoyant energy of
s food tide. and subsidized every af-
ternoon with the languid, reluctant
movement Of an ebb that always left
3 discouraging debris behind. There
were davs when Mr.. Parker actually
hated the mail and mentally wished
the government might come TO some
temporary ruin in order that the mails
might be suspended for q week. But
the wished for disturbance never
came, and the government continued
TO perform its functions as letter car
rier with deliberate regularity
The work Of conducting 3 large
correspondence was enormous enough,
but it was the reading OF the manu-
/ scripts which devOured Mr.. Parker's
time, consumed his mental vigor, ex-
hausted his patience, and kept him
continually on the verge of resign
ing his position. They came from
au quarters of our capacious coun-
try and from beyond the seas they
treated every possible theme in every
conceivable manner, and they exhib-
tied every variety Of penmanship
from the formal precision of appar-
ent copperplate TO the free, bold hand
which scorned all the traditions of
chirography.
When Mr.. Parker reached his Of
I flee IN the morning he exchanged his
Prince Albert frock coat which he
uniformly wore for q less pretentious
garment, carefully adjusted his eye
I z1as,z>. ard en~+@1 hs-.4znIf ar his
desk with an expression in which RO-
man fortitude and Christian resigna-
tion were happily mingled He pro-
ceeded 70 separate the heap Of man
uscript which an assailant had placed
before him into three smaller piles
in one he collected all the verse, in
second, all the stories, and in third
/ all the miscellaneous contributions.
Then he read conscientiously, verse,
tale and essay, marked larger num-
Der Of each kind with an unhesitat-
ing and an unmistakabIe R, noted
the fact Of acceptance on one or two,
and reserved = few for consideration.
As q rule this work brought him to
midday, and the second chapter of his
daily task.
At thirty, Mr. Parker had already
acquired an orderliness which had
become second nature and there
fore he #as HncommonlF durried and
disturbed On this particular morning
BY his inability to find certain man
uscript which he had read, folded and
endorsed with his approval one week
before In his endeaFor to find it he
had Thoroughly examined every part
Of his desk. searched every pigeon
hole. and now, flushed and little
dusty. he was deIiberating as TO what
he should do next. At length he
( touched an electric bell, at the side
OF his desk,and was Immediately con-
fronted BY q small boy
ASK Mr. Perkins to come here a
moment"
/ The boy disappeared and was re-
placed q moment later BY Mr. Per
kins, who also wore eye glasses and
was one Of the assistant editors.
saGood morning, Mr. Perkins |
am q great deal troubled because
have mislaid manuscript 1t came
about a week ago, and was very IN
common story. The title was John
DoIline's Quest Do you recoIIect
seeing It:
sIr. Parker looked At the assistant
editor with evident hope Of an ans
wer that would end ali his perpIexity,
but was doomed 70 disappointment
Mr.. Perkins lad not read the manu-
script. and knew nothing about IL
Mr.. Parker thereup0n, and very de-
ITberateIy, examined his desk q see
ond time without any result, then
walked up and down his Office few
minutes IN evident vexatiOn, and I'm
ally recovered himself with an effort
rang for a stenograpIler and address
? ed himself 10 his correspondence
At half past four Mr. Parker was
ready 70 leave his Office he had clear
ed his desk resumed his Prince Ar
bert frock, and was On the point .
patting on bis light overeoat, whef
: the boy broaght him card. He IA